Triplet teenagers, a 10 year old sports phenom (just ask him yourself) and a sassy but sweet 3-year-old. Oh yeah, I also have two jobs and a husband. Things are crazy all around and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

It was not a good weekend...

Thurs. 3:30 pm Jaden comes home from school and complains of a headache.6:30 pm Jaden's headache is so bad he vomits. I give him motrin and he perks up OKFriday9:30 am Jaden's teacher calls to say that he has been very snarky and mouthy, very unlike him11:00 am I call Neurosurg and they tell me to come and have him seen for possible shunt malfunction.1:40 pm we are seen in NSG, by a PA. PA thinks Jaden looks fine, but agrees to run tests at my prompting, just for peace of mind.4:00 pm we are seen by PA after tests and she confirms that Jaden's shunt IS malfunctioning and will need to be replaced.5:55 pm Jaden is taken into surgery7:16 pm the NSG tells us everything went OK, they got good flow from the shunt and Jaden looks good.10:00 Jaden is awake and is moved to a bed on one of the floors.Saturday7:00 am I come out of the bathroom hearing beepers go off and Jaden gagging. He is choking on his own vomit. The nurse comes in and helps me clean it up. Jaden eyes are glazed over and I would say he is groggy at best.7:25 am NSG resident comes in and says that Jaden is just groggy from surgery and throwing up from effects of anesthesia...he should be fine soon. SHe tells him to eat some food and leaves.8:15 am Jaden is still not awake. He will awaken and respond if spoken to, but can not stay awake.8:45 am Jaden is still not awake. I ask to speak to the attending.9:30 am the attending walks in and visits the patient next to me, then walks out and leaves.10:00 am the resident comes back. Jaden is still asleep. He is complaining of a headache in the same spot as before...above the eyebrows. He will answer questions, but falls immediately back asleep. I explain to the "dr." my deep concern. We have been through several surgeries. We are 14 hours post op, we've been home resting every other time 14 hours post-op. He is worse than he was last night, I say. He is worse than he was when we first brought him in. I know you are the "dr." and I am just the mom, but something is not right with my kid, I say. She tells me that she isn't comfortable ordering any tests right now and wants to wait until noon. I tell her I am not comfortable with that, but I unfortunately am not the one writing orders. She said she'll check back at noon.11:10 am Jaden moans and says he's going to throw up, Rob sits him upright and he goes into a seizure, ending up kind of in a folded position. It is here when I begin to lose it. I feel like I am going to split in half.11:15 am It appeared like the seizure got the dear resident's attention because we were rushed down to CT for a scan. THe scan lasts five minutes. It takes more and more effort to get Jaden to even respond to us. Everytime he opens his eyes, I have to tell him that I love him because I really am feeling like i don't know if it will be the last time I see his eyes open.11:30 am we get back from CT. Jaden is in his bed and his heartrate drops to 40. We are able to rouse him and begin trying anything and everything to keep him awake. I feel totally hopeless and helpless. No one seems to understand that danger I feel he is in. No one seems to be moving fast.12:15 pm 45 agaonizing minutes later, the resident comes in and reports that Jaden's shunt was in a sub-optimal position, his ventricles were enlarged, but she wants to run one more test. I tell her about how angry I am and now she wants to play around with more tests. Whatever. That last test confims that he will need another shunt revision. She tells me I was right. She tells me she should always trust mom. I tell her I knew something wasn't right, but I didn't know what teh time frame is between being OK and being in serious danger. She says she wouldn't want to wait another hour. (Interesting, because if we had waited until noon for the CT, it would have been another hour!)12:55 pm Jaden is sent back for another surgery. A different doc than Fri. night does the surgery. He says this happens all the time. He's done 3000 shunts and this has happened probalby 20 times. (WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?)1:40 pm. Dr. says Jaden did fine in surgery and new shunt ahs good flow.2:00 pm Resident comes in and says that Jaden had some trouble coming out of anesthesia, his sats dropped as did his heartrate, they had to give him a drop of some medicine and he resolved just fine, she said. He's in recovery now, we should be able to see him in 5 or ten minutes.2:30 pm we still haven't been called to recovery. I think something is very wrong. Again, I think I am going to split right in half.2:40 we still haven't been called into recovery. Rob marches in.3:00 pm JAden finally wakes up and is immediately more alert than I have seen him in days.Sunday2:00 pm Jaden is discharged.

A very good outcome in a very scary situation. I truly believe in the power of prayer and in the Lord as my strength. I would not have made it through without all of the prayers of the saints and without the Holy Spirit. I am so thankful that the Lord still has plans for that little Jaden of mine here on this earth. I wish that we would never have to go through another series of days like that again, but I know the odds are very good that we will. If you are a person of prayer, please pray for Jaden. Although he looks great today, there is still a chance of infection. PLus, he's got a big blad spot with about 50 stitiches on his head that he doesn't want anyone to see!